Appropriations panel approves $133.2M MDE budget after cuts, adds rules on in‑person work and DEI spending

The House Appropriations Committee voted to adopt the H‑1 substitute to House Bill 45‑76, the Michigan Department of Education (MDE) appropriation, approving the measure by roll call (17 yeas, 12 nays). The House proposal sets the MDE gross budget at $133,200,000 and reduces authorized FTEs by 118 to a total of 456.5, a 19.2% gross decline, House Fiscal analysts told the committee.

House Fiscal Analyst Noel Benson told the committee: “The House proposal sets the MDE gross budget at a $133,200,000. This is a gross decrease of $31,700,000 or 19.2% decline.” Benson said the budget removes $8,000,000 in restricted funds tied to eliminated teacher certification fees and cuts vacant positions and several program lines including partnership district support and the Office of Strategic Planning and Implementation.

Why it matters: The changes reduce department staff and shift several program responsibilities and restrictions to statutory boilerplate. Committee members pressed fiscal staff on operational impacts, and some members said the reductions could affect service delivery for districts and federally funded programs.

Key details

- Staffing and totals: House fiscal said the bill cuts 118 FTEs and reduces the MDE gross budget by $31.7 million. Benson listed specific program reductions, including elimination of vacant FTE authorization (65 FTEs) and funding drops in federal library services and partnership district support.

- Teacher certification fees: Benson said the House budget assumes earlier House legislation eliminating teacher certification fees will take effect and removes the related $8 million in restricted funds and several FTEs tied to that fund.

- New boilerplate and requirements: The House added multiple department-level conditions, including a requirement that all MDE employees work in person five days per week (section 2‑26), reinstated departmental scorecard reporting (section 2‑20), caps on court‑approved judgments at $200,000 (section 2‑21), severance reporting (section 2‑25), E‑Verify requirements for contractors (section 2‑28), restrictions on DEI spending (section 2‑31), and limits on use of funds for non‑qualified aliens (section 2‑29). Benson described several of these items in his summary.

- Debate: Representative Edwards and others asked whether new in‑person work requirements account for staff who perform fieldwork or non‑standard schedules; Representative Kelly and others said the committee seeks a return to pre‑COVID in‑person norms. Representative Farhat and other members raised concerns over operational impacts on protective services and field staff.

Actions and next steps

- Motion adopted: Representative Kelly moved to adopt the H‑1 substitute to House Bill 45‑76; the committee adopted the substitute on roll call (17 yeas, 12 nays). The clerk recorded the roll call vote in committee minutes.

- Amendment adopted: Representative Farhat’s amendment to require reporting on career and technical education participation (CTE reporting) for districts was adopted during consideration of the bill.

What the record shows: The committee record and House Fiscal presentations provided the summary numbers and section language; the article quotes only speakers recorded in committee (Noel Benson, Jacqueline Mullen, Representative Kelly and other members) and states outcomes that were recorded in the roll call.

Lesser details and implementation: Several members asked for follow‑up about which specific FTEs and programs will be eliminated and what the change means for ongoing grants; fiscal staff said some items are contingent on other bills and implementation decisions and that additional clarifying guidance and reporting language was added in boilerplate.